Benicio Del Toro Lands A Major Role In Guardians Of The Galaxy

Oscar winner Benicio Del Toro turned down one opportunity to star in a galactic space adventure when he said no to J.J. Abrams' Star Trek Into Darkness, but apparently he's not totally dismissive of the space-centered action movie, because he's just joined the cast of another one. According to Deadline, Del Toro is the latest star to join the cast of James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy, which is scheduled to start shooting this summer.

What makes this story very interesting, however, is that apparently he will be playing a very key character in the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and has signed a deal with options for future movies. Unfortunately, the site doesn't have any details about the character he will be playing or even whether or not he will be playing for the good guys or the bad guys, but in the headline calls it a lead role.

The cast of the Marvel Studios films has been growing exponentially over the last few weeks, and has been adding some major stars. Del Toro joins a cast that includes Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax The Destroyer, Michael Rooker as Yondu, and Lee Pace, Glenn Close, Karen Gillan, and potentially John C. Reilly in unrevealed parts. Gunn will be directing the film from a script he wrote and the film will be in theaters on August 1, 2014.

Let's now have some fun with speculation, shall we? Personally, I think there's a very good chance that what we're seeing here could be the casting of Thanos, the giant purple dude revealed in the mid-credits sequence of Joss Whedon's The Avengers. Obviously that would mean that Del Toro would be completely unrecognizable in the role, but having that kind of talent underneath the CGI would be brilliant. Then again, there's also the possibility of Doctor Strange, which, really would be equally awesome. But what do you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!